Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD, and I gain nothing except for some relaxation from this work of fanfiction.

~XxX~

~As Close as Siblings~

~XxX~

Chapter Three

A Devilishly Normal Day

Naruto fidgeted under his mother's scrutinizing gaze. The family of Devils had just finished their breakfast, and when they were leaving Venelana had pulled Naruto aside to have a little talk with her precious boy…

…and the boy was feeling quite a bit of unease at this situation.

Venelana looked her boy over, scrutinizing him from top to bottom, making Naruto squirm under her gaze until she finally decided to speak up.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" She asked which garnered her a blinking stare from her son.

"Um, what?" The boy asked in confusion.

"You didn't want to eat earlier and before that, you got that look in your eyes again, so tell me, baby, what's going through your little head again? Hmm?" The mother prodded while gently combing a hand through Naruto's spiky red hair.

"Oh, it's nothing, I just wasn't feeling hungry is all." The boy muttered with a small smile on his face, one that his mother could tell immediately was fake.

"Please don't lie to me Naruto," Venelana muttered sternly. "Don't think that I haven't noticed that you dislike lavish feasts, so was that it?"

"I…how?" The boy wondered with wide eyes. Heh, his mother truly could see right through him…he wondered how she did that?

"You're my son and I'd like to say that I know you better than anyone else. I noticed that you don't like to overindulge, no, you don't like to indulge at all. I've noticed that whenever we share a meal, you get all quiet and reclusive, and then your eyes glace over in melancholy…so tell me, my son, what's troubling you so much?"

"It's nothing, mom…" The boy muttered and looked away or at least tried to before he felt a soft hand grab ahold of his chin and his head was turned to once more look at the face of his mother.

Seeing the concern in her violet eyes was gut-wrenching.

"Come Naruto, how can I help you if you are not going to tell me what is troubling you?" The woman knelt in front of her son and held him by the shoulders. "Won't you tell me, pretty please?"

Oh, good God-ow-, Naruto finally realized where Rias got her persuasive nature from…and her begging face, complete with fluttering eyelashes and all…Naruto never could stand up to that look on the face of his little sister.

And funnily enough, he quickly came to realize that his mom could make that look work just as well!

And once again, Naruto never stood a chance against that look, he sighed and decided to simply spill his guts once again.

He truly wished that he could be completely truthful to his mom, he hated to lie to her, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell her about his life as Uzumaki Naruto, and that was not a metaphor, he physically couldn't!

Whenever he tried to talk about his past life, it was as if an invisible force sealed his mouth shut, and as far as he knew, there was no way to go around it, and believe him if he said that he had tried, many times.

But back to the problem at hand, the boy sighed and nodded at his mother. "Alright, mom…well, I don't know how to describe it, but I guess that allowing myself to indulge in any luxuries makes me feel guilty…"

Venelana didn't look surprised by her son's admission at all, as quite frankly she had long since guessed that to be the case. But she needed to get her boy to be willing to talk to her on his own, which was why she never tried to truly pressure him on the matter.

But now, finally, she could help her darling boy and maybe get to the bottom of her son's troubles.

"And why would you feel guilty for enjoying something as simple as food? Breakfast is not truly a luxury, you know?" The mother prodded further.

Naruto nodded, "normal breakfast isn't, but our breakfast? If that isn't an overindulgence, then I don't know what is. Our daily meals are so lavish and grand, it's silly. I'd be happy with some cereals and a cup of tea, maybe some scrambled eggs, but what we get served could feed a gathering of 500 and there would still be leftovers! And that's what makes me feel guilty, that we waste so much good food."

"I see." The flaxen-haired woman muttered, "but why would you think that that food gets tossed away?"

Naruto blinked owlishly at his mother, "wait, we don't throw away the leftovers?"

Venelana chuckled, "of course not silly!" She patted her son's head and ruffled his hair, "throwing away so much usable food would be ludicrous! Running a Household as large as ours is very much like running a business and throwing away things that are still good and could be reused is always a bad economic decision, it would be like throwing away money." Venelana took a breath and allowed her words to sink in before continuing, "Naruto, we have over one thousand servants on duty at any given time, many of our servants live on Gremory grounds, as do their families, and we as their employers provide for them. We offer them living arrangements, support for their families, we provide them with the necessities they need to live comfortably, we give them a monthly salary and-of course-we provide them with food."

"So…our leftovers…"

"Are given to the cooks, the maids, the butlers, and the guards." Venelana finished for her son, "every single being that works for us is provided with at least three warm meals a day, and they eat the same meals as us. So even though we go through tons of foodstuffs every day, not much of that is wasted at all. And even that little bit that is left over gets reused and turned into food for our animals. The meats are given to the guard dogs, and the carnivores in our zoo, and the vegetables are fed to our horses. Your father doesn't like to be wasteful, and he has a habit of turning each dime at least thrice before spending it, that is how our family came to enjoy such wealth."

"So basically…I was being an idiot…" Naruto muttered with head hung low and a small comedic raincloud hanging above his frame.

He felt like hitting himself. He knew that his family was richer than just rich, and he immediately jumped to conclusions, liking his new family to the nobles of Konoha and the Elemental Nations.

And to make things worse still, he never even thought about going to his father and asking him about how they handled such things. Great! Now he wasn't feeling bad about the splendor his family enjoyed, no, now he felt bad for jumping to conclusions just because he had bad memories of nobles from his past life.

"Yes, a little bit maybe," Venelana said before sweat dropping when she noticed her son's form slump even further into himself. She quickly yet gently raised his chin and placed a soft kiss onto his forehead, "but there is no need to feel bad about it, okay? There is nothing wrong with having a caring heart, and your compassion is something that you should be proud of, I most certainly am."

Naruto nodded and lowered his head to hide his red cheeks from his mom, not that he could as hearing her light laughter was all he needed to tell that she already noticed his blushing face. He felt her ruffle his hair again and his face turned even redder if that was possible…

God-ow-damnit, he wasn't good with compliments when he was still Uzumaki Naruto, but now that the compliments came directly from his mom…it was so much worst while also being so much better!

"But Naruto, promise something, alright?" The boy looked up and saw that his mother's face had become very serious, so he opted to just nod, "promise me to keep your heart close and that you show your kindness and compassion only to those that are deserving of it."

Naruto blinked at his mom, "but why would I do that?"

In his past life, he had always relied on his heart, and doing so had brought him much success. He turned his enemies into friends and his heart had touched many in his time as a Shinobi. But in the end, it also got him killed at the hands of his best friend, so maybe, just maybe, he should hear his mother out on this.

"Because, baby, a kind heart is something to be treasured, something to be protected. It is something to be proud of and your compassion will ensure that you'll become a great Lord once you succeed your father. But never forget that we are Devils. We live in a society that is ruled and dominated by greed and lust, and if you aren't careful then the other Devils will abuse your kindness without question. You will have to temper your kindness and you will have to sharpen your mind, as a young Lord of noble birth, you will have to learn when it is appropriate to show your kindness and when to put up a façade."

Naruto had a thoughtful look on his face as he took in his mom's explanation, and yes, he understood where she was coming from. While Rias and he grew up sheltered, he did overhear their servants talk and he may have overheard his older brother and father on a few occasions. He had gathered enough to realize the situation he found himself in, he knew that he was a noble's son now, and he knew that his father was the Lord and Protector of several millions of beings that lived in the cities and towns that belonged to House Gremory.

And he overheard enough to know that many Devils weren't kind, or just or selfless.

So, he had to admit-albeit begrudgingly-that his mom had a point.

"I'll try mom." The boy said which earned him another kiss to his forehead and a bright smile from the woman kneeling in front of him.

"I suppose that that is the best I'm going to get out of you." Venelana shook her head with a smile, "I should probably give your father a tongue lashing for daring to pass on his bullheadedness to both Rias and you."

Naruto laughed and leaned forwards to embrace his mom in a tight hug, burying his head in between the soft flesh on her chest. "If you're going to do that to dad, then please tell me so that I can be there with a camera to record it."

Venelana snorted out quite an unladylike sound; something that she wouldn't be caught dead doing in public. She hugged her son back and buried her laughter in his hair, "you mischievous little Devil you."

"Heh, you know me!" The mother and son separated from their hug, "thanks for everything mom, I needed that."

"I know." Venelana smiled, "but now you better get going, otherwise your little sister will get restless, and I don't think any of us want to deal with that today."

Naruto felt a bead of sweat go down his forehead at that, "no we don't."

Everyone thought that Naruto was bad, well they should wait until they found out what a bored or angry Rias was capable of. Now that was truly a nightmare to deal with!

'Maybe I shouldn't have instructed Rias-chan in the sacred arts of Pranking…well mistakes have been made…'

"You know that I'll always hold you responsible for the pranks that Rias will pull in the future, right?" Venelana gave her son a 'look' that made the boy laugh awkwardly.

"Yea, I think I deserve that." Naruto scratched the back of his head, "but how was I to know that she would develop a mean streak that eclipses even my own?"

Venelana gave Naruto a flat look, "because she's your twin and she's following in your footsteps like a puppy."

"…yea, maybe I should've seen it coming."

"Yes, I think we can agree on that, but I think that I've kept you long enough now, and if I'm not mistaken your teacher will arrive soon." The beautiful mother of three stated and smirked internally when she saw her little boy's shoulders drop.

What?

Rias and Naruto had to get their mischievous nature from somewhere.

"And I'm so looking forward to that…" The boy bit back a groan.

"Now, now, none of that sass." Venelana wagged a finger at Naruto, "you're going to be the Lord of this House one day, as such you need to be well versed in all things concerning the Underworld and our Society. And haven't I just told you that you need to sharpen your mind if you wish to content with the other Lords in the game of politics?"

Naruto sighed and nodded his head, "I understand mom, and I'll try my best."

The woman nodded, smiled, and kissed Naruto's forehead once more, "I know you will, now get going."

The redhead nodded, turned around, and scurried off to find his little sister, leaving behind a smiling and quite frankly proud mother.

'You and your sister will achieve great things, of that I have absolutely no doubt.' She thought fondly before standing up and straightening out her dress.

Her children weren't the only ones with a busy schedule and the matriarch of the Gremory family believed that she had been tardy enough for one day.

With that in mind, the woman headed off towards her office. She had plans to make and plots to spin, after all, staying ahead in the game of politics was not an easy task.

But then again, Venelana Gremory was one of the best players on the board.

~XxX~

-About Half an Hour Earlier-

Rias Gremory sat in the large, lavish, and quite beautiful gardens around which her father's Castle was built. She was seated on a bench beneath a large and wide Wisteria tree.

A curious tree in Rias' humble opinion. Instead of growing upwards as many other trees would, this little wonder of nature liked to move outward, offering ample shade beneath their boughs draped in flowers.

These flowery trees were kept being always in bloom, how her mother managed that, Rias didn't understand, but she would never be able to argue with the results, as the bright purple blooms of the Wisteria trees gave their garden a magnificent royal sensibility.

But the soothing nature of the garden did little to lift the girls' mood. She was feeling quite grumpy right now, which was evident by the huffy pout on her lips.

Both Naruto and her mother knew that she hated being kept in the dark, so she was feeling a bit left out when her mother had taken her brother aside to have some secret conversation with him.

It so wasn't fair!

"Meanies…" She grumbled and crossed her arms as any annoyed kid would. She had half a mind to eavesdrop on her mother and Naruto, but she knew that they would spot her immediately.

Both her mom and her brother had the special and very annoying talent of always knowing where Rias was. She loved her twin, but she also wanted to be able to sneak up on him, to either give him a surprise hug if he had been good or to prank him if he was being an idiot!

And his uncanny ability made that difficult. But maybe she shouldn't complain, after all, she too always kind of just knew where Naruto was. It was something that the girl couldn't describe, like a weird feeling in her gut, or something in the back of her mind, and that thing always led her to Naruto, she didn't even need to do anything.

She just walked and then her legs would carry her to him without fail, it was weird, but a good kind of weird. A soothing king of weird that made her feel like she was never alone.

She quite liked it, even if it was annoying at times.

The little princess huffed again and leaned back on the bench, looking up at the purple blooming flowers above.

"What's taking them so long?" She wondered even as her curiosity kept gnawing at her. "I really wanna know what they are talking about!"

'Maybe mother is talking with Naruto about his weird behavior?' The girl thought while tilting her head.

Well, if that was the case then it was a good thing, right? But still, Rias wanted to be there! She too wanted to know why Naruto sometimes tended to space out with a look in his eyes that made Rias want to comfort him.

That was something that Rias knew Naruto did a lot during their earlier years, so much so that her brother was always quiet and soft-spoken, but he had gotten better with that over the last year or two.

Still, she noticed that from time-to-time Naruto would space out and get lost in his thoughts, but she also knew how to get him to snap out of it pretty quickly.

There was nothing in this world that cuddles and hugs wouldn't be able to fix!

The restless and bored girl kicked her feet back and forth, and then she began to wonder what she could do to pass some time until her mother and brother were finished being meanies…

And then an idea hit her like a bolt of lightning!

The little girl grinned, and her eyes twinkled in mischief…

'I wonder where Onii-sama is right now?'

~XxX~

Sirzechs could feel his hand begin to cramp up from doing nothing but paperwork for the past hour or so.

Oh, how he hated his job sometimes!

'Can't something interesting happen for once…?' The Satan Lucifer whined childishly in his mind before he felt a cold shudder going up and down his spine. 'I have just jinxed myself, haven't I?'

Ah, crapbaskets…

~XxX~

-Present-

Naruto walked down the halls, letting his feet carry him to where he instinctually knew Rias to be. Though the boy grew confused when he realized that he was heading in the direction of Sirzechs and Fia-nee's wing of the castle.

'Hmm, what's Rias-chan doing here? Ah well…guess I'll find out soon enough.'

He continued his walk, greeting the servants and guards that he passed on his way until-finally-he spotted his dear sister standing outside of their older brother's office. Briefly, Naruto wondered why she was just standing there, as he kinda believed that she would be inside, getting herself some spoiling from the Dark Lord himself.

But when Rias turned to face him with a grin on her cute, chubby face alarm bells went off inside Naruto's mind and his entire body went tense. And when Rias blew a raspberry and pulled down her eyelid at him, Naruto knew that he'd done goofed.

Rias began to run in the opposite direction down the hall and Naruto knew that he too should run like all hell, but like watching a train wreck happening, his body refused to move. When he saw Rias's small frame disappear around a corner, it happened...

*BANG*

The sound of an explosion could be heard coming from within the walls of Sirzechs office, which was quickly followed by a string of curses…

'Rias, what did you do!?'

Naruto wasn't even given the time to ponder on what the hell just happened before the doors of Sirzechs office practically came flying off of their hinges, and out stepped the Satan Lucifer himself…covered from head to toe in neon pink paint and draped in a curtain of rainbow-colored glitter.

"YOU!"

Naruto blinked owlishly at his furious brother even as his mind still tried to make sense of the situation.

'Rias-chan…she pranked me…!'

Realization dawned on Naruto and not a moment too soon because he could suddenly feel the air become thick with Sirzechs demonic energy…

"NARUTO!"

"OH, SHIT!"

~XxX~

Rias once more sat outside in their garden, giggling merrily to herself as her ears listened to the commotion coming from inside the castle.

"Rias-chan…" The little girl's head snapped aside, and she saw her mother standing there, giving her a displeased frown. "Was that really necessary?"

The girl crossed her arms and huffed, "that's what Onii-chan gets for being mean to me!"

Venelana frowned, "and Sirzechs? What did he do wrong to annoy you?"

Rias pouted at her mother, "Naruto-kun told me that Onii-sama took pictures of us while we were asleep this morning!"

"He did what!?" A vein throbbed on Venelana's forehead and she reached up to rub her temples and soothe the migraine she could feel coming. "…well guess that I'll have to have a conversation about what's proper with Sirzechs…once again."

The Matriarch of the Gremory family walked away from Rias, muttering something under her breath that the little girl couldn't quite catch.

Not that it mattered anyway, because as soon as her mother had turned her back on the little Devil, the girl's pout faded, and a shit-eating grin took its place on her lips!

There was nothing quite like a good prank coming together and all pieces falling into place…

"…oh and Rias?" The girl heard her mother's voice, and the icy tone made the girl go pale. "Don't think for even one second that I will forget about this. After I've talked some sense into Sirzechs, you and I will have a conversation as well, understood?"

Rias gulped and quickly bobbed her head in agreement even as abead of sweat went down the girls temple.

When her mother was out of view Rias slumpled in on herself before letting out a goran.

"...I may have made a mistake..."

...oh Crapbaskets.

~XxX~

A/N: Well, hey there! Bet you didn't think to hear from me so quickly, did ya?

Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, another slice of life, who would've guessed? But yes, sorry if that's disappointing to some, but I just couldn't help myself, and besides there was some important stuff in this chapter as well.

Mainly, I wanted to give some insight into Naruto's mentality! And as you've already read, he pretty much accepted his second chance for what it is, but there is still some guilt in him. But not to worry, talking to his mom was the first step of betterment, so no need to worry about Naruto turning into some angsty or brooding character!

And well Rias, she is a demanding little girl, isn't she? And boy did Naruto ever make a mistake when he took her in as a pupil in the arts of playing pranks on people!

Anyhow, I loved your feedback on the last chapter, and so far, it looks like many of you want Naruto to have a normal and safe childhood. Of course, some want him to be a badass right off the bat, but yea, there is no need for that right now.

Naruto and Rias are seven, and they are quite possibly the safest children in existence. There are approximately 500 guards, Sirzechs entire peerage, and Sirzechs himself between the twins and anyone that would wish to do them harm.

Naruto and Rias may as well be on the inside of Fort Knox and whatever enemies they have are only allowed to use a hammer and chisel to try and dig their way inside…

With that said, I hope you enjoyed it, and I see you whenever I update again!

Ciao.